Jacob was chosen by God;
therefore, in Jacob
we see God’s selection:
God loved Jacob
and selected him.
Jacob was chosen before his birth,
even before the foundation of the world:
Jacob was chosen by God;
it was not of his own works,
nor was it
the issue of his own struggle and strife.
Jacob’s being chosen
was of God who calls,
of God’s mercy,
and of God’s grace.
Like Jacob,
we were chosen, selected,
before the foundation of the world:
Christ is the sphere
in which we were chosen by God.
God chose us
according to His foreknowledge.
God’s selection
depends on His sovereign mercy;
as those who have been chosen by God,
we should cast ourselves upon Him
and trust that He will bring us to the point
where we are pleasing to Him.
God’s selection of us in eternity past
was followed by His predestination
and by His calling of us in time.
We have been selected and called
for God’s purpose:
Genesis 1:26 reveals
that God’s purpose in His creation of man
was that man would express Him in His image
and represent Him with His dominion.
God’s purpose for Jacob
was to deal with him
until he was transformed into a prince of God,
bearing His image
to express Him
and exercising His dominion
to represent Him;
this is God’s goal.
Jacob’s life
is a life
that represents God’s dealings,
and the God of Jacob
is the God of dealings:
God destined Jacob
to live a struggling life all his days;
from his mother’s womb
to the end of his life,
he was struggling.
In the life and experience of Jacob
we see God’s dealings:
God sovereignly
arranged the circumstances of Jacob’s life;
God’s sovereign hand
was upon Jacob
to deal with him.
God’s dealing with Jacob
was not God’s punishment;
rather, it was
for the purpose of Jacob’s transformation
into Israel.
Under God’s sovereignty,
through the sufferings in his circumstances
and through God’s direct dealing,
Jacob was transformed and matured
so that he became Israel.
Jacob’s history
is a picture
of the discipline of the Holy Spirit:
The discipline of the Holy Spirit
refers to what the Holy Spirit is doing
in our outward environment,
to His arranging of all people, things, and happenings,
through which we are being disciplined.
Through the discipline of the Holy Spirit,
God completely tears down our old creation
so that the element of the new creation
may be built up in us.
As our natural life
is dealt with
through the discipline of the Holy Spirit,
Christ is constituted
into us.
Everything and everyone in our environment
are instruments of sovereignty
used by God
for our transformation.
Genesis 32:22-32
relates a vital and crucial experience
in the life of Jacob
—his being broken:
The Lord wrestled with Jacob
in order to expose to him
how natural he was
and how great his natural strength was:
The Lord “touched
the socket of Jacob’s hip
at the thigh muscle”;
the touching of the socket of Jacob’s hip
at the thigh muscle,
the strongest muscle in the body,
signifies the touching of
Jacob’s natural life, his natural strength.
After Jacob was broken by God,
outwardly he was the same as before,
but inwardly his natural life had been dealt with;
it was not the outward living
that was touched by the Lord
but the inward, natural strength
that was broken by Him.
Jacob’s experience
shows us
that God has to break our natural life,
that He has to touch our natural life
in a drastic way:
The way of religion
is to change man’s outward behavior;
the way of God in His economy
is to touch man’s inward life
in order to change his inward being.
When the Lord touches us
at a certain crucial spot,
we are lame
and can no longer be the same
in our inward being;
from then on,
we limp
and are no longer whole.
Every believer
needs to experience
the breaking of the outer man:
In order for Christ
to be released
from the imprisonment of the soul,
our outer man
must be broken.
Our outer man
needs to be broken
for the release of the spirit.
In order for there
to be a pure flow
of the life of God
from within us,
we must be broken:
The operation of death within us,
spoken of
in 2 Corinthians 4:12,
is our being broken.
2 Cor. 4:12
So then
death operates in us,
but life in you.
The Lord needs broken vessels
to be channels of living water;
the more
we are broken,
the more
the life of God
will flow out of us.
Every part of our soul
needs to be broken by God:
For the soul to be broken
does not mean
that we no longer use our mind,
express our emotions,
or exercise our will.
Our mind, emotions, and will
still function,
but they have been broken,
that is,
dealt with,
subdued,
and made submissive to our spirit.
There is
the need for the breaking
of the “alabaster flask of ointment,
of very costly pure nard,”
containing “ointment of great value,”
so that the ointment of pure nard
may be released
and that the house
may be “filled
with the fragrance of the ointment”
(Mark 14:3; Matt. 26:7; John 12:3):
Unless the flask (the outer man)
is broken,
the ointment of pure nard
cannot be released.
We should not
be protective of ourselves,
regarding the flask
as more precious
than the ointment;
we should not consider
our outer man
more precious
than our inner man.
If the outer part
is not broken,
the inner part
will not be released;
if this is our situation,
we will have no way
to go on,
and the church also
will have no way
to go on.
God’s work
of building Himself in Christ into us
requires the breaking of the outer man.
Breaking is
a prerequisite for building:
In order for the church
to be built up,
we need to experience
the breaking of the outer man.
If we would be coordinated
with others in service,
we need to be willing to be broken;
without brokenness
coordination is impossible.
Like Paul,
we need to be broken
under the vision of the Body
and realize that the only way for us
to be built up in the Body
is to be broken.
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Prophecy note, 12 October 2014
Christ does not need
whole vessels;
instead, He needs
broken vessels.
This is
because only broken vessels
can be channels
of living water.
Whole vessels
can only be
cisterns of dead water.
This life
has no way
to come out.
The reason is not that
our behavior
is too poor or too good
but that
we are too whole
and too impregnable.
Because we have
no wounds,
Christ has
no way
to be released
from within us.
Every part of our soul
needs to be
gradually broken
and shattered
by God.
Our mind, emotion, and will
still function,
but they have been
dealt with,
subdued,
and made submissive to our spirit.
In other words,
they have been
broken.
Through the discipline
of the Holy Spirit,
God completely tears down
our old creation
so that the element
of the new creation
may be built up in us.
As our natural life is dealt with
through the discipline
of the Holy Spirit,
Christ
is constituted into us.
We need to see
the vision of the Body.
This vision
will break us.
We will be broken
under the vision of the Body.
We will realize
that the only way
for us
to be built up
in the Body
is for us
to be broken.
The only way
to realize the Body
is to be broken.
Day 6
John 12:3
Then Mary took a pound of ointment,
of very valuable pure nard,
and anointed the feet of Jesus,
and wiped His feet with her hair;
and the house was filled
with the fragrance of the ointment.
The Bible speaks of
ointment of pure nard.
God’s Word
purposely uses the adjective pure.
It is
ointment of pure nard,
something truly spiritual.
Unless the alabaster flask is broken, however,
the ointment of pure nard
cannot be released.
It is strange
that many people appreciate the alabaster flask.
They think
that the flask is more precious
than the ointment.
Many people think
that their outer man
is more precious
than their inner man.
This is
the problem
facing the church today.
We may treasure our own wisdom
and think that we are quite superior.
Another person
may treasure his emotions
and also think
that he is quite outstanding.
Many people treasure themselves;
they think
that they are much better than others.
They think
their eloquence, their ability,
their discernment, and their judgment
are better.
But we are not
antique collectors;
we are not
admirers of alabaster flasks.
We are those
who are after
the aroma of the ointment.
If the outer part
is not broken,
the inner part
will not be released.
We will have no way
to go on,
and the church
will have no way
to go on.
If the earthen vessel
is not broken,
who will find the treasure within?
The Lord works in us
in so many different ways
for the purpose of breaking
the earthen vessel, the alabaster flask, the outer shell.
The Lord wants to prepare a way
to bring His blessing to the world
through those
who belong to Him.
This is a way of blessing,
but it is also a way
stained with blood.
Blood must be shed,
and wounds are unavoidable.
How crucial
the breaking of this outer man is!
In order for the church
to be built up,
we have to touch
the matter of being broken.
In the building of the church,
every natural thing in us
must be broken
before we can be joined with others.
Everything natural in us,
whether it is
our ability, our discernment, or our zeal,
is unsuitable
to be used
for the building.
We can be built
only after we have been broken
in our natural being.
If you realize
that God’s eternal purpose, God’s ultimate intention,
is to have a Body, a corporate vessel
to contain Christ
and to express Christ,
you will say,
“Lord, save me, deliver me
from my individual spirituality.
I have to be broken
even in this matter of individual spirituality.
I need to be delivered
from this kind of individuality.
I need to learn the lesson
to be broken
so that I could be coordinated with others,
so that I could
be blended with others
and become a real help to them.”
We need to stress this matter so much
because by experience
we realize
that if we would not learn this lesson,
we can never have
a real church life.
We can come together on the Lord’s Day
and sing a hymn,
have some prayer,
and hear a message
—but that is all.
We can never have a church
built up.
We cannot have a group of believers
built up together
as a living corporate Body.
We need to learn
to serve in a way
that we could be coordinated with others
and others could be coordinated with us.
There are many lessons here
for us to learn.
You need to see
the vision of the Body.
This vision will break you.
You will be broken
under the vision of the Body.
You will realize
that the only way
for you to be built up
in the Body
is for you to be broken.
The only way
to realize the Body
is to be broken.
Day 5
Unless the soul is broken and transformed,
there is no possibility
of having the real church life.
This is the reason
why even up to the end of his ministry
Brother Nee still spoke
on the breaking of the outer man
for the release of the spirit.
The outer man, the soulish man,
needs to be broken
so that the inner man, the spirit,
can be released.
People today appreciate
Brother Nee’s book The Normal Christian Life,
but that is
only the “ABCs.”
Those were the messages
he gave more than twenty-five years ago.
In the early years, the first years
after I met him,
he always stressed those matters.
After this,
however, he was placed into trials
for a long time,
and following the Second World War
his messages almost always stressed
the breaking of the outer man.
We all have Christ,
but our Christ
has been imprisoned within us.
The church life
is Christ realized, expressed, and experienced
by all the saints
in a corporate way.
This Christ
comes out of all the persons
and mingles us together.
However, if Christ is imprisoned
by the soulish life in you,
and He is imprisoned
by the soulish life in me,
how can we have the church life?
Christ is within us,
but He cannot be expressed,
and He cannot be realized by us
because of our soul.
This is
why we need to be strengthened
into our inner man.
Then Christ will fill us
and spread from within
to take over our heart.
Then the soul
will be subdued and broken,
and all the parts of the soul
will be renewed.
Then Christ will be expressed,
and it is
by this Christ
that we are one.
In order for there
to be a pure flow
of the life of God,
we must be broken.
Therefore,
when we consider supplying others
with the divine life,
we must pay attention to
our being broken.
In Galatians 2:20
Paul says,
“I am crucified with Christ;
and it is
no longer I
who live,
but it is Christ
who lives in me.”
The statement
I am crucified
and it is no longer I
refers to
the experience of being broken.
Only those
who are broken
are crucified with Christ
and can say,
“It is no longer I.”
The statement
but it is Christ who lives in me
refers to
the flowing out
of the divine life.
Christ
being expressed through us
is life
flowing out of us.
The operation of death within us,
spoken of
in 2 Corinthians 4:12,
is the killing.
The operation of death
is our being broken.
The more
we are broken,
the more
the life of God
will flow
out of us.
A brother
who is broken
can supply life.
Christ does not need
whole vessels;
instead, He needs
broken vessels.
This is
because only broken vessels
can be channels
of living water.
Whole vessels
can only be
cisterns of dead water.
This life
has no way
to come out.
The reason is not
that our behavior
is too poor
or too good
but that we are too whole
and too impregnable.
Because we have no wounds,
Christ has no way
to be released
from within us.
Every part of our soul
needs to be gradually broken
and shattered
by God.
When we say
that the soul
needs to be dealt with and broken,
we do not mean
that a person
no longer
uses his mind,
expresses his emotions,
or exercises his will.
Our mind, emotion, and will
still function,
but they have been dealt with,
subdued,
and made submissive to our spirit.
In other words,
they have been broken.
A person
who cannot release his spirit
is dominated
by his mind, emotion, and will.
A person
who can release his spirit
has subdued
his mind, emotion, and will.
The three parts of his soul
are under the ruling of his spirit
and let his spirit dominate.
Day 4
Gen. 32:24-25
And Jacob was left alone,
and a man wrestled with him
until the break of dawn.
And when the man saw
that He did not prevail against him,
He touched the socket of his hip;
and the socket of Jacob’s hip
was dislocated
as he wrestled with Him.
Genesis 32:22-32 relates
a crucial experience
in the life of Jacob, God’s chosen one.
This is
truly an extraordinary portion
of the Holy Word.
Jacob had
no peace.
Suddenly,
as Jacob was left alone,
“a man wrestled with him
until the break of dawn”.
This combatant
was not an angel
but the Lord Himself
in the form of a man.
Much to Jacob’s surprise,
in the depths of the night,
while he was desperate,
a man came to him
trying His best
to pin him down.
Because Jacob would not give in,
the two of them
wrestled all night
until the breaking of day.
Before this,
Jacob was afraid of being slaughtered.
Now,
he was afraid of being defeated
in this wrestling match,
and he thrust all his energy
into the struggle.
The Lord did not subdue him immediately
so that He might expose to Jacob
how natural he was
and how great his natural strength was.
Eventually,
the Lord touched
the hollow of Jacob’s thigh,
causing him
to become lame.
The touching of the socket of Jacob’s hip
at the thigh muscle,
the strongest muscle in the body,
signifies the touching of
Jacob’s natural life, his natural strength.
This was
the beginning of Jacob’s transformation.
As chapter 33 shows,
after this experience
Jacob was still natural.
Nevertheless,
although there was no change
in Jacob’s outward living,
his natural life, his inward natural strength,
had been dealt with by the Lord.
This is signified by the fact
that Jacob walked with a limp.
The way of religion
is to change man’s outward behavior;
the way of God in His economy
is to touch man’s inward life
in order to change his inward being.
Jacob experienced
the continual discipline of the Holy Spirit.
As a result,
his cleverness
was never able to have its way.
On the night at Peniel,
Jacob learned the greatest lesson;
it was
actually the best night of his life!
He thought
he could have his way with anyone
and could similarly have his way with God.
But when he came face to face with God,
God touched the hollow of Jacob’s thigh,
and he became crippled.
For Jacob’s hollow
to be touched
meant that God had touched
the strongest part of his natural life.
From that day on,
he was crippled!
This is the kind of experience
that makes us the people of God.
One day
God will shine on you
and show you
how evil, wicked, and conniving you are.
When God shows you
who you are,
you will not be able to lift up your head.
God’s light
will terminate you
and force you
to admit
that you are finished.
You will acknowledge
that you dare not serve God anymore
and that you are not qualified
to serve Him any longer!
From that point on,
you will no longer trust in yourself.
This is
the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
It may be more difficult
for the Lord
to work Himself into you
because you are so good.
It is not a matter of
outward change or improvement;
it is a matter of
inward touching.
Your inward sinew, your inward natural strength,
must be touched by the Lord.
We all need
this touch.
As we follow Jacob,
we may be touched again and again,
for with us
the touch may not be once for all.
After we wrestle for a while,
we shall have the deep conviction
that we have been touched.
The Lord always touches us
at a certain crucial spot.
Whenever He touches a particular part,
we are lame
and can no longer be the same
in our inward being.
From then on,
we limp
and are no longer whole.
Day 3
Heb. 12:11
Now no discipline at the present time
seems to be a matter of joy,
but of grief;
but afterward
it yields
the peaceable fruit of righteousness
to those
who have been exercised by it.
In Jacob,
we do not see the aspect of enjoyment;
rather, we see the aspect of God’s dealings.
Because Jacob supplanted so much,
God’s hand was always upon him.
Jacob’s supplanting
brought in God’s dealings.
God might have said,
“Jacob, you are able to supplant,
but I am able to deal with you.
In every step of your supplanting,
My dealings will come in.”
This was not God’s punishment;
it was God’s dealings
for the purpose of
Jacob’s transformation.
God sovereignly arranged
the environment and circumstances
pertaining to Jacob’s life.
When Jacob and Esau
were in their mother’s womb,
they fought over
who would be born first.
Jacob was defeated by Esau
and was born the second.
We all are Jacobs.
God has chosen us,
and we are
under His dealing hand.
Jacob suffered
from every angle,
in every corner,
and in every aspect.
As we read Genesis 25, 27, and 28,
we see
that God’s sovereign hand
was upon Jacob
to transform him.
At that time,
however,
Jacob did not realize
that he was under God’s transformation.
He only knew
his brother’s rudeness and hatred,
his mother’s cleverness,
and his father’s simpleness.
Actually,
he was under God’s dealing
day after day.
Not one day
was wasted.
Every person he met
and everything that happened to him
were a dealing.
Jacob surely represents
the aspect of transformation
in our spiritual life.
Under God’s sovereignty,
through the sufferings in his circumstances
and through God’s direct dealing,
Jacob was transformed and matured
so that he became Israel.
Therefore, he symbolizes one
who has been regenerated and transformed.
Jacob’s history
is a type
of the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
We see a crafty person
who was filled with schemes and deceits.
But at the same time,
we see a person
whom the Holy Spirit disciplined
step by step.
Indeed,
he lived
a toilsome and hard life.
All these experiences
were the discipline of the Holy Spirit;
they were the trials
that a clever man
had to go through.
Those who can scheme and who are resourceful
will see God’s hand upon them.
The natural life
has to be pressed out.
Jacob’s history
is a picture
of the discipline of the Holy Spirit.
The discipline of the Holy Spirit
refers to
what the Holy Spirit is doing
in our outward environment;
it refers to
His arranging of all people, things, and happenings,
through which we are being disciplined.
The major work of God toward us
through the Holy Spirit,
aside from the Holy Spirit as the anointing,
is in His outward discipline.
The end result
of the discipline of the Holy Spirit
is always that we
may be torn down, broken, and reduced to nothing.
It is through the discipline of the Holy Spirit
that God completely tears down our old creation
so that the element of His new creation
may be built up in us.
We should thank the Lord
that everyone in our environment
is under God’s sovereign hand
for our good.
You may think
that you have
a faithful and trustworthy uncle.
But such an uncle
will not be very helpful
for your transformation.
We all need to see this
and to know
that nothing in our environment
is trustworthy.
Do not trust
anything, any person, or any matter.
Everything and everyone in our environment
are instruments
sovereignly used by God
for our transformation.
Day 2
God’s selection in eternity past
was followed by His predestination.
It is difficult to explain
the meaning of the word predestination.
According to the Greek,
it means to be pre-marked.
God has marked us out beforehand.
Before we were born,
God foresaw and foreknew us.
We not only were chosen by God in eternity past;
we were also pre-marked,
and His mark is now upon us.
Even the angels know
that we have been pre-marked.
Hence, predestination means
that God has marked us out beforehand
for a certain destiny
—to be His sons.
He has chosen and predestinated us
unto sonship.
God’s selection
is followed by His calling.
God selected us in eternity past
and called us in time.
We cannot experience God’s selection or predestination,
but we have all experienced His calling.
We have been selected and called
for God’s purpose.
Not many Christians know
what this purpose is.
What is the purpose of God’s calling?
It is to transform His called ones
into kings.
We can see this purpose in Jacob
but not in Abraham or Isaac.
Genesis 1:26 reveals
that God’s purpose in His creation of man
was that man might express Him in His image
and represent Him with His dominion.
The New Testament also says
that we have been made
priests and kings.
As priests,
we bear the image of God
to express Him,
and as kings,
we have the dominion of God
to represent Him.
God’s purpose for Jacob
was not to give him
peace, joy, and a happy life
and then to take him to heaven.
God’s purpose
was to deal with this pitiful supplanter
until he was transformed
into a prince of God,
bearing His image
to express Him
and exercising His dominion
to represent Him.
This is God’s goal.
When we come to the end of Genesis,
we see
that Israel
was exactly this type of person.
When he saw Pharaoh,
he did not say a word.
He simply stretched forth his hands
and blessed him.
Jacob bore the image of God,
expressing Him in a full way.
Furthermore, through Joseph,
he was the one
who had dominion over the whole earth,
representing God on the earth.
Thus, at the end of Genesis
we see
God’s goal, the goal of His selection.
Isaac does not represent the life
which has been dealt with by God.
Jacob’s life
is the life
which represents God’s dealings.
Time after time,
God did not let Jacob go.
Instead, He kept His hand upon him.
When God first met Jacob,
He said,
“I am Jehovah,
the God of Abraham your father
and the God of Isaac” (28:13).
This implied
that God
was to be Jacob’s God.
We all have experienced
the God of Abraham and the God of Isaac.
Since the God of Abraham
is the God of justification
and the God of Isaac
is the God of grace,
this means
that we have experienced
the God of justification
and the God of grace.
Although we have experienced such a God,
we also need to meet and experience
the God of Jacob.
This means
that God will be to us
the God of transformation, the God of dealings.
God destined Jacob
to live a struggling life
all his days.
His life
was absolutely different
from the life of Isaac.
Isaac’s life
had no struggle,
just enjoyment.
But Jacob’s life
was full of troubles.
Even from his mother’s womb,
he struggled
to be the firstborn of the twins.
Even before he was brought forth in birth,
he struggled with his brother.
Day 1
Do you believe
that you have been chosen?
How do you know this?
Although we may
stand on the Word of God
and say,
“I know
that I have been chosen
because the Bible tells me so,”
I would still ask this question:
how do we know from our experience
that we have been chosen by God?
We know it
by the fact
that we cannot get away from Him.
During the past fifty years of my Christian life,
I have tried many times
to get away from the Lord.
I have even said to Him,
“Lord, I am tired of the Christian life.
I am running away.”
Although I tried to run away,
I could not do it.
Jacob is the last of the three patriarchs,
yet he is used by God
to signify the Father in His loving and choosing man.
Malachi 1:2 says
that God loved Jacob,
and Romans 9:10-13 says
that God selected Jacob,
choosing him
even before he was born.
Jacob was chosen before his birth,
even before the foundation of the world.
We, like Jacob,
were also chosen before we were born.
In eternity past,
before God began to create anything,
He chose us.
Although we may think
that we are quite small,
we are big enough
for God to pay attention to us.
Even before the foundation of the world,
God paid attention to us
by selecting us in eternity past.
His selection does not depend on us;
it is absolutely up to Him.
It is
not of our struggle or works,
“but of Him who calls.”
We are not the Creator
—He is.
God’s selection
is also of God’s mercy.
God said to Moses,
“I will have mercy
on whomever I will have mercy,
and I will have compassion
on whomever I will have compassion” (Rom. 9:15).
We all
are the objects of God’s mercy.
How we thank Him
that He has had mercy on us!
“It is
not of him who wills,
nor of him who runs,
but of God who shows mercy” (Rom. 9:16).
God’s selection
is also of His grace.
We are not only the objects of God’s mercy;
we are also the objects of His grace.
We are under God’s mercy,
and His grace is within us.
Now we are not only under God’s mercy;
we also have
His grace,
the living person of Christ
as the Spirit,
within us.
This is God’s selection.
In the record of Jacob’s life,
we see
something which can be designated as mercy
and something which can be designated as grace.
God’s choosing
is the first blessing
that He bestowed on us.
His choosing
is His selection.
From among numberless people
He selected us,
and this He did in Christ.
Christ was the sphere
in which we were selected by God.
Outside of Christ
we are not God’s choice.
Our being chosen by God
was according to His foreknowledge.
I like the word foreknowledge.
Before we were born,
God foreknew us.
In eternity past,
God chose us
and predestinated us
according to His foreknowledge.
The expression sovereign mercy
means that God’s mercy
is absolutely according to His sovereignty.
Being a vessel of mercy
is not the result of our choice;
it originates with God’s sovereignty.
It is of God’s sovereignty
that He created us vessels of mercy
to contain Himself.
His sovereignty
is the basis of His selection.
If we know God’s selection,
we can put ourselves in God’s bosom;
we can cast ourselves upon Him
and trust that He will bring us to the point
where we will be pleasing to Him.